Your Indoor Greenhouse

As indoor gardening enthusiasts, we also believe in getting as much expert advice as possible. As such, we requested permission to gather some great information from a publication of The Gardener’s Rake for setting up and maintaining your own successful indoor garden. If you’re interested in setting up your very own indoor garden, consider the following expert editorial advice.

As always, using a trusted online retailer for the purchase and distribution of your indoor gardening supplies is advisable. When it comes to gardening success, you should never settle for second best.

For a greenhouse set up, choose a room or location that is not being used. You may elect to have one in a basement room that gets plenty of outdoor light and another in an unused upstairs bedroom. This room also gets plenty of light so that you don’t need additional added lighting for my plants. Remember, the use of quality lighting for your indoor garden can make or break your efforts. 

If you do need extra lighting, we would suggest using the fluorescent bar lights that are 4 feet long. These are often used in office buildings. The bar lights can be attached over the top of the shelves for additional lighting. Your plants will need four to eight hours of light depending on what you are growing and how light is available in your room. Many gardeners have also used mini spotlights if I need extra lighting, but do try to find a place in the house that has enough light to conserve on electricity. Note: if you plants are thin and leggy, they need more light.

Another indoor greenhouse can be professional greenhouse plant starting stand, which costs more but comes ready to use. Or you can create a greenhouse as simple as setting up an unused metal shelf and covering it with clear plastic. What you are trying to do is create a warmer environment and more control over the humidity.

Whatever indoor greenhouse you use you need to remember that lighting, proper watering and the best soil mix you can obtain will lead to healthy plants, seedlings and transplants. An indoor greenhouse will extend you growing season and create a more tropical feel to your home.

The Advantages of using LED Indoor Garden Lighting

When starting an indoor garden or green house, there are many types of grow lights to choose from. One of the most important decisions that a person can make is the cost and efficiency of installing grow light for your indoor garden. Becoming one of the more popular types of grow lights are the LED grow lights.

LED grow lights are a big investment at first when setting up your indoor garden space. The lights are extremely energy efficient and usually have an overall savings of up to 80% a year on an electrical bill.

LED grow lights use about 20% to 30% less electricity then HID lighting. Unlike traditional greenhouse lighting, an LED grow light lasts a life time. That means no bulbs to change.

There are many advantages to using LED lights for your indoor garden. They can be used for all stages of growth, from seedlings to mature plants. Plants that are grown under a LED light have a higher yield than plants grown under traditional greenhouse lighting. There is also very low heat that is released by LED lights. This keeps gardeners from having to use fans to eliminate the heat that is usually given off from metal Halide and HPS grow lights. An LED light uses the right balance of colors in the spectrum, making the absorption of the light to the plants more efficient. This reduces the light put out by the LED lights. The lights come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes such as lamps, a grow panel and even an ufo light shaped like a disk. There are smaller lights that can light up to 5 square feet of plants, to panels that light up an area of 50 feet. Depending on your indoor garden size, you are sure to find the right LED light for your needs.

 

When I first started researching lighting for my own indoor garden, I was overwhelmed with the costs and the lack of efficiency of many other types of lighting. After doing many hours of research, I came across LED lighting. The choice was simple, with the energy efficiency and never having to buy another bulb in my lifetime, I was sold. The cost was higher then other bulbs, but the money saved over a year on my power bill, more than paid for the LED lights many times over. LED lights have improved the yield that I harvest from all of my vegetable plants. My friends and family can't believe how much larger and healthier that my plants are from using LED grow lights. I now have them sold on these amazing lights.